Journal Madagascar Conservation - Madagascar Wildlife ...

MADAGASCAR CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 1 — DECEMBER 2008 PAGE 42
A B C
D E F
FIGURE 4. Common dietary items of Eulemur cinereiceps, A) Ficus sp., B) Aframomum angustifolium, C) Pandanus sp., D) Clidemia hirta, E) Cynometra sp., F)
unidentified fungus.
E. cinereiceps is considered a frugivorous species (Mittermeier
et al. 2006), individuals also included leaves, nectars and fungi
in their diets. Notably, White - collared brown lemurs did not eat
the same parts of each plant species (Figure 5).
CONSUMPTION OF NON-NATIVE FOOD ITEMS Of the 54
plant species eaten by White - collared brown lemurs,
four are classified as introduced species, and non - native
plants constituted over 23 % of the feeding records of these
endangered lemurs. Notably, this is the first record of E. cine-
reiceps consuming an undetermined fungus species growing
on the trunks of dead Cecropia peltata (Cecropiaceae) trees.
Interestingly, Cecropia is an invasive plant that is common
in disturbed forest areas (Weber 2003). During feeding,
lemurs tore pieces of the whitish - yellow fungus from the
trees with their hands and mouth. The fungus appeared
to be fairly resistant to manual tearing, and pieces were
consumed using chewing cycles of over one quarter of a
second in duration (mean 0.28 s; SD 0.01). White - collared
brown lemurs were also observed consuming spicy fruits
of a non - native plant species (Aframomum angustifolium
Zingiberaceae). Feeding bouts typically began by holding the
fruit with both hands and stripping away the outer covering
with the anterior dentition. The pulp and seeds were
then rapidly consumed, with shorter chewing cycle duration
(mean 0.22 s; SD 0.005). After consuming the contents, they
discarded the remaining outer covering, and quickly licked
their fingers and palms. This is the first record of consumption
of either of these resources for any of the lemur species
at Manombo, and differences in chewing cycle duration may
result from differences in the sizes of bites taken, as well
as differences in manipulation / handling of the two types of
food items during consumption.
DISCUSSION
The passage of cyclone Gretelle in 1997 destroyed 75 %
of the trees in the Special Reserve and 50 % of the trees in
the Classified Forest (Ratsimbazafy 2002). Overall, the forest
of Manombo was severely damaged, with more than 90 %
of the autochthonous trees destroyed (Ratsimbazafy 2002).
Population sizes of lemur species inhabiting the forest were
reduced by half (Ratsimbazafy 2002). It is likely that for a time,
resource availability at Manombo was insufficient to support
the previous population size, although evidence is mounting
that population is now recovering (S. Johnson, pers. comm.).
The location of Manombo in southeastern Madagascar renders
it subject to frequent cyclone activity, so it is likely that the
lemur fauna residing in this forest have been obliged to adapt
to cyclical challenges in habitat quality. Our observations reveal
that the Critically Endangered Eulemur cinereiceps currently
FIGURE 5. Proportions of different plant parts consumed by Eulemur
cinereiceps.